Our
vision
is to increase the quality of life and provide the interventions necessary to
sustain and enhance life for critically ill and chronically ill children with
cancer and and other life-threatening illnesses, and to see that those children
whose survival depends on finding a compatible bone marrow or blood stem cell donor
have the maximum opportunity for a cure.
Kids
Beating Cancer Objectives:
To
increase, through community awareness and education, the size and diversity of
volunteers willing to donate marrow or blood stem cells if matched with a
patient in need, thereby, increasing the number of life-saving marrow and blood
stem cell transplants to local children and children all over the world.
To increase
the possibility of all local children finding a donor by funding the testing
to identify family donors when insurance does not cover the lab testing costs
and when no family donor is found, to create and implement individualized
family centered donor campaigns for children in need of a marrow or blood stem
cell transplant as their only hope for survival.
To improve the ill child’s ability to
cope with their disease and it’s treatment and the families ability to cope
and survive by providing compassionate one-on-one support through parent
education, disease information, advocacy, referral, and guidance and for the
children, therapeutic play, special celebrations, teddy bears and bicycles,
outings, and hospital visits.
Kids Beating Cancer
Programs Provide:
Statewide & National
Community awareness and education on the need for marrow and blood stem cell
donors of all races, facilitating donor drives at corporations, churches, and
community events, funding the DNA testing to identify potential related and
unrelated donors, adding thousands onto the National Marrow Donor Registry, resulting in identifying donor matches for patients waiting for
a donor every month.
Multicultural Donor Awareness Community Campaigns, ‘African
Americans Uniting for Life’ and ‘Hispanics Giving Hope,’ providing sensitivity
to culture and language, in English and Spanish, educating diverse communities
on the need for
and process of volunteer marrow and stem cell donation while facilitating and
funding DNA testing necessary to identify donors.
Therapy
through Art for the children while receiving treatment.
‘For
the Love of John,’ giving teddy bears (for security and comfort), and bicycles
(allowing freedom of spirit and energy), to children during their treatment.
KBC produced Parent Handbook for parents of children newly
diagnosed
with cancer, leukemia, or related life-threatening blood
diseases.
A GIFT OF HOPE Objectives:
To improve the quality of life for children with critical and complex, chronic,
medically fragile conditions, through programs so all children regardless
of their handicap, can enjoy the simple pleasures of just being a kid.
A GIFT OF HOPE: A
Central Florida Program
Assists
low-income, at risk families of children with medically fragile conditions,
providing education,
information, and advocacy,
and therapeutic play.
Beliefs:
“We believe
that every child, regardless of medical coverage, in need of medical
interventions deserves the appropriate services to sustain life regardless of
race or financial ability.”
“We believe
that our communities will respond to the need for volunteer marrow and bloods
stem cell donors and will selflessly donate a small amount of their marrow or
blood stem cells, if matched with a patient in need.”
“We believe
that by providing resources, education and compassionate support programs, we
will improve the child’s quality of life, ability to cope with their disease and
it’s treatment, and empower the family to make informed decisions about their
child’s care, regardless of the outcome of the ill child.”
